Is all photography abstract?

I was recently roped into a "Facebook Challenge" where participants were asked to post black and white photos with no people in them, and no explanations or backstories.



Because I'm a professional photographer the expectations to deliver something reasonable are much higher than they are for most people. Every time I post an image, my reputation is on the line.



But as someone who specialises in photographing people, this took me far further out of my comfort zone than it would for a wildlife or landscape photographer.

I spent (way too much) time going back through folders of images on my computer to see what I could find, and before long I started thinking about the nature of abstraction.



And with these thoughts whirling around my mind, I found myself selecting images where you could recognise what the subjects were, but you were not seeing them as you normally would.



In all photography the moment we frame the image, we chose what we are including and what we are leaving out.



The shutter speed we select might have the effect of creating interesting blurs, or making a movement static so we see things frozen in a way our eyes would never normally be able to capture.



The aperture we use affects the depth of field – what is in focus and what is not. The settings can create an effect where pretty much everything is clearly visible, or only a very small part.



And finally, when you remove the colour from an image, unless you are completely colour blind, the process of abstraction shifts up another level.



Whoever said "the camera never lies" was clearly a first class bullshitter.



So this post includes the images I ended up selecting and manipulating, plus a couple of extra ones.



Let me know in the comments which, if any, speak to you.

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